


Our First Christmas

by ericsonclan



Series: The Everett Bunch [10]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:40:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28294710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Omid and Christa work together to have it be the best first Christmas with their kids ever.
Relationships: Christa/Omid (Walking Dead: Long Road Ahead), Louis & Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: The Everett Bunch [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1988578
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Our First Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

“Do bee do ba do dee da dooo,” Omid hummed to himself as he moseyed round the kitchen. Putting on his oven mitts, he opened the oven and pulled out the cookies. They were baked to perfection, the slightest hint of golden brown on their edges. He had to admit he was pretty proud of himself. Sure, these were pre-made Pillsbury sugar cookies, the kind with the little trees printed on the center, but he’d taken part in their creation and for that Omid considered himself a true chef.

“Mmmm, smells delicious, baby,” Christa placed a quick kiss on her husband’s cheek as she strolled into the kitchen.

“Why, thank you!” Omid grinned proudly before leaning back to look into the living room. “Where are the kids?”

“Playing in their room. Louis is serenading Violet with his latest xylophone song and Vi is staring at the ceiling,”

“Huh. Not sure if staring at the ceiling counts as ‘playing’ but as long as she’s happy,” Omid began to plate the cookies one by one upon the Christmas reindeer tray. “Can you get the milk and glasses, babe?” Christa nodded, helping out with that part of the prep. When everything was ready they carried the milk and cookies into the living room. ‘Kids!” Omid called, cupping his hands round his mouth. “It’s time for presents!”

That got their attention. The kids both barreled out of the room, nearly tumbling over each other as they skidded to a stop. Violet immediately withdrew into herself, crossing her arms and looking toward the floor as if trying to make them forget the excitement she’d expressed merely moments ago. Meanwhile Louis was busy hugging Christa then bouncing over to Omid for another hug. “Merry Christmas!” he exclaimed, his eyes practically sparkling as he beamed up at them.

“Merry Christmas, kiddo!” Omid chuckled, tousling the boy’s dreadlocks fondly. Christa sat down, gently patting the seat beside her. Violet came over hesitantly, sitting down right on the edge of the couch. Louis scampered over to sit beside her, in between Violet and Christa. Omid meanwhile remained standing, placing his hands on his hips as he began his announcement. “Alright, kids, eat your milk and cookies. Christa has a very important story to read,” With that he sat down on the floor beside his wife, handing up the book that had been resting on the floor.

Taking it in her hands, Christa positioned the book on her knee so that Louis and Violet could see the pictures as she read. Clearing her throat, she began. “’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…” The story continued, Christa’s voice the only sound in the room besides the soft munching and sipping noises coming from the children. Louis’ eyes were wide as the story continued, his expression rapt as he stared at the illustrations. Violet meanwhile ate cookie upon cookie, only occasionally looking up at the book, but Christa and Omid had grown familiar enough with her mannerisms to know she was interested. It was a peaceful, magical moment, exactly the sort Christa and Omid had hoped they’d be able to achieve this Christmas Eve.

When the story was finished, Christa handed the book over to Omid then turned to Louis and Violet. “Alright, you two. It’s Christmas Eve. You know what that means,”

“Presents!” Louis exclaimed, bouncing excitedly on the couch.

“That’s right. Now, Omid and I had a decision to make regarding this Christmas. With so many expenses happening near the holidays, we knew we would have to choose whether to buy a bunch of tiny gifts or one big gift for each of you,”

Violet looked down at her lap. Omid and Christa shared a glance. She was probably thinking how all the expenses came from the cost of fostering her and Louis and that all those costs were doubled by the fact that she was here too instead of the one child they’d originally planned on.

Omid cut in. “So that’s why we decided to go for the biggest, bestest gift we could come up with for each of you. Because you both deserve the best. And since we hope this is gonna be your forever home, we want you to know that,”

“Let’s start with Violet’s,” Christa nodded to her husband. “Honey?”

“On it!” Omid scurried off to their bedroom, quickly emerging with a large Christmas present, one that took both of his hands to carry. He set it down gently upon Violet’s lap. The present looked even more immense within the small girl’s arms. She looked back and forth between Omid and Christa in confusion, her eyes large. Clearly, she’d never been given such a large gift.

Christa nodded. “Go ahead, Vi. Open it,”

Slowly, Violet began to undo the wrapping paper, her movements careful and exact, almost as though she were afraid the gift would be taken from her at any second and she’d have to return it in perfect condition. Ever so gently, she pushed aside the wrapping paper once it was undone. Inside was a large carrying case made of light blue waterproof fabric with a zipper that ran all the way down the middle. Violet stared at it in puzzlement.

“Ooh, there’s directions! Look, Vi!” Louis exclaimed, snatching up a piece of paper that was tucked underneath the case. He handed it over to Violet who examined the photo carefully before turning to Christa and Omid. “It’s a… tent?”

“Yep! But not just any tent!” Omid said with a grin.

“It’s a star tent,” Christa explained. “Once we set it up, you’ll be able to turn on the miniature projector that comes with it and see all of the constellations on the roof of the tent. The projector comes with a tape player too so you can listen to the stories of all the different constellations or put on some music if you want to listen while you watch the stars,”

Violet looked back down at the bag in her hands. The smallest of smiles began to play on her lips.

“Do you want to set it up now?” Omid offered.

Violet shyly nodded.

The four of them all worked on the tent together. After about a half hour of reading the instructions, assembling the pieces, disassembling the things they put in wrong the first time and putting those together correctly, the tent was finished. Crawling inside the tent for a second, Omid turned on the projector and started the music track that came on the tape. As “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” began to softly play, all eyes turned to Violet.

“Give it a try,” Christa encouraged, gesturing toward the tent. Hesitantly, Violet knelt down and crawled within the tent. As she lay on her back, only her toes could be seen barely popping out of the door to the tent.

“Can I try it too?” Louis asked, his eyes pleading.

Omid and Christa looked at each other. “Well, it’s up to Violet,” Omid answered. “It’s her Christmas present so she decides whether she wants to share or enjoy it on her own,”

The three outside were silent for a minute, watching Violet’s toes as they listened to the music and the slow spiral of the stars as they circled round and round the tent ceiling. Then Violet’s voice came from inside the tent, small and soft.

“Louis? You can watch too,”

He didn’t need to be told twice. Louis shot inside the tent like a rocket, giggling and wriggling excitedly as he settled down into place beside Violet. Christa and Omid sat down outside the tent, enjoying seeing the kids having fun. Through the opening in the tent door, they could see that the two of them were holding hands as they looked at the stars together, Louis providing his own commentary on what he thought the story of each of the stars was.

Christa nudged Omid, mouthing the word ‘snacks’. They went over to the coffee table to grab the remaining milk and cookies, delivering them to the tent with the directions to be careful and not spill anything on the projector. Then they settled back down, snuggling together as they watched the stars from the outside of the little tent.

Once the cookies and milk were all gone, Louis stuck his head out from the tent. “Vi wants to stay in here for the whole night. I was wondering though… I get a present too, right?” his eyes were hopeful before falling down as though afraid he had asked for too much.

“Of course!” Omid exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “It’ll just take a second for us to get the gift since we hid it out in the garage,”

Christa stood too. Placing a hand on Louis’ shoulder, she smiled. “Spend a little more time with Violet while we get it. We’ll be right back, OK?”

Louis nodded. Giving Christa another quick hug, he scurried back inside the tent beside Violet.

It took several minutes to roll the present out of the garage and over to the sliding glass doors and another few minutes to safely get it inside the house. By the time they had rolled it in past the Christmas tree, Louis and Violet had both exited the tent, watching the process with wide eyes.

“That’s  _ my  _ present?” Louis asked in disbelief, looking at the massive mystery present covered in Christmas wrapping paper. “It’s bigger than me!”

“That it is, kid,” Omid said with a wink. “Go on – open it!”

Louis paused in front of the present, clearly unsure where to even begin. After a few seconds of deliberation, he thrust his hand forward and ripped away a large swath of the wrapping paper with gusto. It only took a few more tears before he gasped in realization of what lay underneath. “It’s a piano!” With that realization the wrapping devolved into a frenzy, Louis throwing paper this way and that as he tried to uncover the present in its entirety. Once it was all unwrapped he quickly slid out the bench that had been tucked underneath, plopping down upon it before running his small hand against the wood grain of the piano. He turned to Christa and Omid in disbelief. “You got me a real life piano for Christmas?”

“We figured it was a step up from the xylophone,” Christa replied with a wry smile. She gestured towards the bench. “The seat opens and there are some starter books in there for you to use,”

Louis excitedly leapt up from the bench. Flinging it open, he grabbed all of the books from within the bench, excitedly flipping through each of them. Violet had returned to the comfort of her tent, but this time had her head poking out instead of her feet, watching Louis with interest. Having settled on a book, Louis flipped it opened to a certain page and placed it on the music rack.

The page had a display of the different keys on the piano and the corresponding letter for each one. Louis let his finger hover above one of the keys before lightly pressing down on it. A deep, resounding rumble came from the low note. Louis’ face brightened in excitement at the sound. He placed his finger upon another key, then another and another. Running his hands along the piano, Louis giggled happily as he played all the notes one after the other then got to play them in the opposite direction as well.

Christa and Omid shared a smile. Both gifts seemed to be a hit. Louis was completely enraptured with his piano and Violet had stuck her head back inside her tent, returning to her stars. Omid squeezed his wife’s shoulders gently. “Decaf coffee?” Christa nodded and he went to go start a pot. They would let the kids stay up a bit later this night and enjoy their presents. After all, they had all morning tomorrow to sleep in then play with them again to their hearts’ content.

\--- 

It was 6 AM the next morning when Omid awoke to the sound of piano music. Christa was already awake and sitting up beside him in bed, blinking blearily. She turned to Omid with a weary smile. “Today we’ll let him enjoy it, but tomorrow we’re establish ground rules for how early in the morning the piano can be played,”

“Agreed,” Omid rolled out of the bed with a groan. “Coffee?”

“I’ll come with you, get breakfast started,” Christa replied, getting up as well.

As they descended the stairs and entered the living room, they spotted Louis sitting at his piano, happily playing a song he must have made up himself. His hands crashed over the keys as he sang some sort of lyrics of his own. He paused when he saw Christa and Omid, flashing them a happy smile. “Merry Christmas! Thanks again for the best present ever!” With that he returned to his piano, playing with even more fervor than before. Omid and Christa shared a smile. Louis had thanked them about a dozen times when they were putting him to bed last night. Clearly, he was just as excited today.

Violet was inside her tent once more. She popped out her head for a second as they approached, giving them a shy wave before retreating back inside. Christa and Omid returned the wave even though she wouldn’t be able to see it. Then they headed toward the kitchen together, ready to prepare Christmas breakfast a few hours earlier than they had anticipated. Opening the fridge, Christa paused as she and her husband locked eyes. “We did it,” she whispered happily.

“Yeah we did,” Omid grinned.

They’d given the kids the perfect Christmas.


End file.
